Three Travellers Who Returned To Tamil Nadu From Abroad Tested Positive
A scene at the holding centre at the Chennai airport, where passengers wait for their RT-PCR results. Photograph used for representational purposes only (Photo/thehindu)
Three travelers in Tamil Nadu had arrived from Singapore and the United Kingdom who have been quarantined in government hospitals after testing positive for COVID-19. According to Health Minister Ma. Subramanian that their samples have been submitted for genome sequencing to determine the variant implicated, and their family members, co-passengers placed in front of and behind them on their flights, and the pilots have been tested and quarantined as a preventive measure.
COVID-19 was found in a male who arrived at the Tiruchi airport. At the K.A.P. Viswanathan Government Medical College Hospital, he was segregated in a special ward. A 10-year-old boy who had traveled from the United Kingdom with his family tested positive at the Chennai airport.
The Minister, who visited the patients with Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan on Friday evening said that doctors had reported that all of the patients were asymptomatic and are stable. He stated that the findings of their samples' genome sequencing would be ready in four to five days. He stated that people in the front and back seats of the flights are being tested. The flight crew is likewise being put to the test. All contacts, family members, and flight attendants have been quarantined. They are treating the problem with extreme caution.
The government will cover the expense of testing for the 2% of visitors from non-risk nations who are being tested at random. The cost of RT-PCR testing was Rs 700, adding that the government was willing to cover the expense for anyone coming from at-risk countries who were economically disadvantaged. Passengers will be able to wait for their RT-PCR test results in designated holding areas at each of the four airports. Any traveler who tests positive will be quarantined at the government medical college hospital. At six government hospitals, special wards with 30 to 40 beds, oxygen, and ventilators have been established.
Meanwhile, according to the Minister, erroneous information was spreading online that two people in the state had tested positive for the Omicron variety. All information would be made public in a transparent manner.